First published in 1823, “The Pioneers” was the debut novel in James Fenimore Cooper’s famous “Leatherstocking Tales”. While published first, it is the fourth chronologically of Cooper’s five “Leatherstocking Tales” and follows the later life of his central character, Natty Bumppo. Well-known to Cooper’s readers as the archetypal American frontiersman and friend to Indians, Natty struggles with hunting and maintaining his way of life amid a growing economy and the new societal laws that restrict the freedom of the wilderness he has always known. He finds allies of his rebellion in a local landowner’s daughter and a mysterious young visitor in this rich and fascinating depiction of early frontier life and the essential American character that clashes with the expanding nature of society. Natty is the wise and pragmatic voice of reason in the novel, a man who understands that the settlers must respect the land they now find themselves the stewards of if they want to continue to enjoy its beauty and resources. “The Pioneers” is both a rich social drama, as well as a political and ecological novel, that helped established Cooper as one of the first great American novelists. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
